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Richard Harris Barham
|birth_place = Canterbury, Kent |death_date = |death_place = London |nationality = English |other_names = Thomas Ingoldsby |occupation = cleric, novelist, humorous poet |notable_works = Ingoldsby Legends }} Richard Harris Barham (6 December 1788 – 17 June 1845) was an English poet and novelist, and a cleric of the Church of England, novelist, and humorous poet. He was known better by his pen name Thomas Ingoldsby. Life Barham was born in Canterbury. When he was seven years old his father died, leaving him a small estate, part of which was the manor of Tappington, mentioned so frequently in his later publications Ingoldsby Legends. At the age of nine he was sent to St Paul's School in London, but his studies were interrupted by an accident which partially crippled his arm for life. Thus deprived of the power of vigorous bodily activity, he became a great reader and diligent student. During 1807 he entered Brasenose College, Oxford, intending at first to study for the Law. Circumstances, however, induced him to decide on a religious profession. In 1813 he was ordained and accepted a country curacy; he married during the next year, and in 1821 he obtained the appointment of minor canon of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, where he served as a cardinal.New Catholic Dictionary Three years later he became one of the priests in ordinary of the King's Chapel Royal. for the 'Dead Drummer of Salisbury Plain', one of the Ingoldsby Legends.]] In 1826 Barham first contributed to Blackwood's Magazine; and in 1837 he began to furnish to a recently-initiated magazine, Bentley's Miscellany, the series of tales (most of them metrical, some in prose) known as The Ingoldsby Legends. These became very popular, were published in a collected form posthumously (1879) and have since had numerous editions. They may perhaps be compared to Hudibras. The stories are generally whimsical, but based on antiquarian learning. (There is also a collection of Barham's miscellaneous poems, edited posthumously by his son, called The Ingoldsby Lyrics.) Barham was a Tory politically; yet he was a lifelong friend of the liberal Sydney Smith. Theodore Hook was one of his most intimate friends. Barham was a contributor to the Edinburgh Review and the Literary Gazette; he wrote articles for John Gorton's Biographical Dictionary; and a novel, My Cousin Nicholas (1834). He died in London on 17 June 1845, after a long and painful illness. Recognition His last poem As I laye a-thynkynge was set to music by the English composer Edward Elgar and published in 1888. In popular culture Barham is a character of George MacDonald Fraser's historical novel Flashman's Lady. Publications *''The Ingoldsby Legends; or, Mirth and morals''. London: J.M. Dent, 1960. See also *List of British poets References * Notes External links ;Poems * Selected Poetry of Richard Harris Barham (1788-1845) at Representative Poetry Online. * Ingoldsby, Thomas 1785-1845. The Literary Gothic ;About * Original article is at Richard Harris Barham. Category:1788 births Category:1845 deaths Category:Writers from London Category:Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Category:Old Paulines Category:Church of England clergy Category:19th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:English poets Category:Poets